Mr. Keillor - As long-time

May 14, 2004 |

Mr. Keillor -
As long-time fans (more than 20 years), my husband and I have become so disillusioned with your political satire that we stopped listening to the broadcast. A little bit of political satire, evenly spread, is fine. A lot, flowing in pretty much one direction, however, became tiresome. We love everything else about the show and hope to become regular listeners again.

Marcia
(Conservative Republican)
Richmond, VA.

Dear Marcia,
The show is what it is and it's not to everyone's taste. I am a strong proponent of turning shows off that one finds offensive. I've made a lifetime practice of it. Peace and quiet is a beautiful thing. Richmond is a beautiful city, full of delightful places, and nobody who lives there is in need of entertainment. As for political satire, it is usually directed at the party in power, which would seem to be the Republicans right now. Satire doesn't particularly interest me at the moment, though: I fear for my country and don't find our situation humorous. The torture of Iraqi prisoners by decent young American soldiers ---- what can one say about this? Unspeakable. Simply unspeakable. So I stick to what I know, which is this show, and Lake Wobegon, Guy Noir, the cowboys, and so forth. Every week, without fail, we get bitter letters from Republican listeners complaining about our liberal bias and "Bush-bashing". It doesn't matter if the show has zero political content. People love to be angry at somebody. That's fine. But I recommend the peaceful life. I'm quite content without ever having seen "Friends" or "American Idol" or "The Sopranos" or "Sex And The City" or practically any other big TV hits of the past twenty years. I recommend you give up our show and try reading Dickens. "David Copperfield". Magnificent book.